Workplace Violence
ANA Position Statement
Effective Date: March 13, 2025
Purpose
This statement articulates the American Nurses Association (ANA) position regarding the roles and responsibilities of nurses and employers to create and sustain a culture of respect and safety free from workplace violence. Nurses and employers across the healthcare continuum, including academia have an ethical, moral, and legal responsibility to create a healthy and safe work environment for themselves, members of the health care team, students, health care consumers, families and communities.
Statement of ANA Position
ANA’s Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements states that nurses must be afforded the same level of respect and dignity as others and so require nurses to treat everyone that they encounter with civility and kindness (ANA, 2025). Thus, all nurses, in all settings, including practice, academia, research, home-based, and long-term care, must collaborate to create a culture of safety, develop an organizational plan that includes a reporting mechanism for all incidents, train all staff about workplace violence, investigate incidents through a multi-disciplinary committee, and provide guidance to ensure optimal outcomes. This position statement, although written for nurses and employers, is also relevant to all health care professionals and stakeholders who collaborate and work with nurses.